It is with great pride that StatoilHydro can finally announce that the development of the giant gas field Ormen Lange is now finished. Ten years of hard work are over and the result is a piece of modern industrial history that is unique on a world scale.

StatoilHydro states:

"At depths of nearly 1000 metres we have fitted and connected underwater installations and pipelines together with millimetre precision to carry the gas to the surface.

An enormous processing facility has been built at Nyhamna in Norway and a receiving facility at Easington in England. 1200 kilometres of pipeline have been laid on the seabed between Norway and Great Britain - 100,000 individual pipe sections that make up the world's longest underwater pipeline. All in all, a project that is so vast that it is hard to conceive that it's a human endeavour.

Over 20,000 women and men from nearly 60 nations have contributed all their knowledge and enthusiasm. Women and men who have cheered, sworn, cried and laughed together. Who have pressed on, day and night, irrespective of the weather. And ensured themselves a place in the history books.

We are proud and happy to be able to deliver the Ormen Lange field to Shell, on time and on budget. Now Norway is becoming one of the world's largest exporters of natural gas - and we believe that gas exports from Ormen Lange will be an important contribution to providing Britain with a stable energy supply for decades to come."